Sonic the hedgehog 1991, His first game!

Console: Mega Drive/Genesis | Genre: Platformer
Developer: Sonic Team | Publisher: SEGA

Sonic's first appearance on the Sega Mega Drive, or the Genesis as our great freinds in America like to call it. The aim of the game is simple - Dr. 'Eggman' Robotnik plans to threaten all of Mobius with his little mechanic monsters of which cute furry animals are the source of. With the use of these, Robotnik wants Mobius as his kingdom. Fatboy has not yet found the seven chaos emeralds which are littered somewhere on the planet. All is not lost though, as Sonic plans to stop the Egg-man and to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds on the way, which conveniently happen to be floating about in another dimension.

Features & Information

Initial Impression: Fans go "WTF?"

The unveiling of Shadow the Hedgehog took place on the 8th March in America, where the 'Walk of Game' celebrations were taking place. Sonic the Hedgehog was the first entry into the 'Walk', and SEGA celebrated and were understandably happy. Ironically, that's where they decided to first show this little "beaut". Hmmm.

It has come to this. It's amazing just how much of a pull idiot gotho-choice Shadow has on teenager fanboys/fangirls. His appearance in Sonic Adventure 2 was cool. His return (from his timely death) in Sonic Heroes just annoyed everyone. And now we get a whole GAME on this bumbling whinger? You know Shadow's only here to cash in on silly goth-compulsive-depressants anyway, but hey if that's your bag, so be it. The popular "word on the street" is that this game was derived from opinions set in a survey organised by SEGA of America some time back. This survey asked fans what kind of Sonic spinoff game they would most like to see. This isn't the case, as the movie shows it has been some way into production, so the survey must have just been a hint/teaser. Although I still wouldn't be surprised to see those results and find millions of rabid Shadow loonies craving for more. He's dead already!

Character quibbles aside, 'Shadow the Hedgehog' is a game starring everyone's "favourite" sulky git. Nothing's been revealed aside from the trailer TSS has seen, and from the looks of things it appears a lot like a 'backwards step' to Sonic Adventure 2 style stages, with Sonic Heroes graphics. Did we mention Shadow has a gun?

Oh yes. For the perfect case of "dumbing down", this game also has the added "value" of weaponry. Shadow is seen with at least two guns at his arsenal, a pistol and a machine gun (...I can't believe I'm typing this description on a Sonic website...). Looking to mix Sonic style platforming with... shooting, Shadow the Hedgehog looks like the designs we'd more likely see from a slightly demented fangame.

While we're obviously none too impressed that SEGA and Sonic Team have decided to go downmarket with the Sonic series and selling itself to the lowest common denominator possible, there is still some aspects of the game that seem intruiging, funny as it sounds. Notably, strange meters at the top of the screen - perhaps indicating some sort of charge move. If we were to go with this assumption, the most obvious candidate would be a Chaos Control maneouvre. More moves include something akin to his 'Sonic Battle' actions, and some sort of "hyperspeed" mode where Shadow is flying across a plane of obstacles at high speed. Again, probably linked with Chaos Control. The idea of guns may be some sort of inspiration from Ratchet and Clank, but to be honest when the idea of guns is crap anyway who gives a toss? And again with the whole "Choose to be good or evil" rubbish. Seriously SEGA, it's getting old. The whole thing reeks of 2001 again. With guns. And 100% more "Shadowy" (cringes).

We're hoping upon hope that if anything, this game will at least shed some light on all the Shadow plotholes that Sonic Team created in Sonic Heroes. Because that way at least all questions are answered and he can just sod off to where he came from (his crater-shaped grave). If this isn't the last Shadow game (or last game with Shadow IN IT), then we're in for a very sad end to the Sonic the Hedgehog series as we know it.

Good news though, is that this game is NOT the new Sonic the Hedgehog game Yuji Naka is banging on about for Nintendo Gamecube. He's stipulated time and time again that the new SONIC will be revealed (and playable) at E3 in May. Which only calls to question who had the brain fart that spawned this idea. Hopefully Sonic Team Japan aren't paying too much attention to this; an easily forgettable spinoff that's likely to be as dull as the character starring in it. As always though, we remain open-minded and won't give you definitive reactions until we've played it. Just don't hold your breath for anything special. Or good

Zones & Bosses

GREEN HILL ZONE
The easiest level of all, just take it fast through this level. There are enemies such as Buzz Bombers and others that'll try and attack you, just keep your speed through all 3 acts until you hit the end of act 3. There you'll meet Dr Robotnik in his Egg-O-Matic, which is a small air craft with a chain attached to a swinging checker wrecker ball at the bottom, just duck under each platform until it swings to the other and jump and attack it. 8 hits will destroy the ship.

MARBLE ZONE
One tough, long level of spikes, falling rocks, and lava! To survive just watch where you walk and be careful not to land in lava or spikes. In the last act Robotnik wants more pain, he'll suck up lava and dump it on you, each time he does just jump to the other side of the lava.

SPRING YARD ZONE
Now on to the tough pinball like level, with miles of springs to bounce on and off of. Watch out for the Roller's, they'll roll into you like a spin dash attack. Make it to the end and you'll have to fight Dr Robotnik with a spike on the end of his Egg-O-Matic, he'll move to the ground and break off a chunk of the platform your standing on. Jump at him when he moves down, be careful to destroy his ship before the platform breaks!

LABYRINTH ZONE
One of the most annoying levels of all, the under water maze. One of the most important things in this level to do is watch for bubbles and get them before you drown. You have 30 seconds before you drown, so be really careful. Get to act 3 and you'll confront Robotnik, but all you need to do is jump up and survive every trap as you watch him run away.

STAR LIGHT ZONE
After finishing that level, it makes this seem fun and easy. Just run through the whole level, be careful not to fall and go boom. Make it to Robotnik, he'll throw spikey bombs at you, it'll hit a platform that you can jump on a launch the spikes at Robotnik to destroy his ship!

SCRAP BRAIN ZONE
The hardest of the levels, be careful or you'll get smashed. There is electricity every where, be careful not to get toasted either. If you survive Robotnik will send you underwater, remember to use your skills from the Labyrinth Zone. There is no boss in this zone.

FINAL ZONE
The final fight agianst the Eggman Robotnik! There'll be 4 pistons that'll try to smash you, to survive go to the far right or left corner and hit Robotnik when he comes down. A red light will light up and 4 fireballs with try to attack you, after 8 hits to Robotnik, his machine will be destroyed and you'll be able to sit back and watch the ending.

GOOD & BAD ENDINGS
To get the good ending you need all six Chaos Emeralds located in the Special Stage. To get the Bad Ending you need five or less Chaos Emeralds to, well lose.

Review

now fits on a cellphone -- how intrinsically cool is that? This week, I've been revisiting my "middle" gaming years with SEGA Mobile's amazing port of their 16-bit Genesis classic. Smashing almost an entire Genny cart into a single cellphone download is something of a marvel, and even though there are some corners cut to get the job done, there is just no way around the fact that this mobile game is of a certain qualitie.

The game is an absolute hallmark of platforming, a game genre that has taken a beating on today's top consoles (no thanks to a gaming populace that generally turns its nose up at most things 2D), but really reached its pinnacle in the 16-bit generation. And next to Mario, there is no video game character that has such an incredible Q rating. Sonic moved systems in ways that games like God of War and Kameo could only hope.

SEGA walked a precarious tightrope when it decided to bring Sonic to mobile -- there are so many fans intimately familiar with the Blue Blur's adventures that they would be able to smell an impostor from a parallax scrolling mile away. Anything less than a great port of Sonic's debut would have been rejected, such is one of the few drawbacks of success.

Sonic the Hedgehog manages to faithfully recreate eighteen stages of blazing running and jumping, from the Green Hill Zone to the Scrap Brain Zone and all the day-glo levels in between. I didn't bust out my Genesis to double-check the absolute authenticity of tree placement or loop size, but everything felt natural. Things that I remembered, such as secret bonuses hidden in palm trees that reveal themselves if you jump in the right spot or the way platforms sink into lava rivers, felt just as I left them. Enemy placement didn't seem as plentiful, but I could be mistaken on that front.

But if SEGA Mobile did strip out some enemies, the reasoning for doing so is sound. The screen-size doesn't show off as much of the level as you might need if plotting an end-run through a collection of rings en route to the stage's end. And since controls are handled by the thumbpad or numberpad, which is admittedly not as responsive as the Genesis controller (you press up to jump, for example), the last thing I'd want is an armada of enemies stripping me of my rings every fifteen seconds. It takes a few moments to get used to the way Sonic controls, but once you have the feel for running and jumping -- spinning into enemies to free them from Robotnik's (before his Eggman moniker became universal) wrath -- the game feels good.

Sonic is all about speed, and thankfully, this mobile port is able to deliver on this front. It doesn't run as quickly as the original, but again, that's actually okay due to the smaller real estate. However, I cannot think of any mobile platformer that runs this fast without getting so blurry the game is render unplayable.

The soundtrack also survives the transition very much intact, with the level themes reasonably recreated for mobile. These are highly recognizable tunes, so if they were off even in the slightest, fans would revolt. Even the invincibility jingle was included. Now, because of the music, some of the sound effects aren't heard. But thems just the breaks right now until cellphone games are able to do true multi-channel audio.

General Info

GAME STORY

Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the mad scientist, is snatching innocent animals and turning them into evil robots! Only one tough dude can put an end to the demented scientist's fiendish scheme. It's Sonic, the real cool hedgehog with the spiked haircut and power sneakers that give him super speed.

Help Sonic fight hordes of metal maniacs and do the loop with the Super Sonic Spin Attack. Speed down twisting tunnels and swing over dangerous booby traps. Leap across lava pits and dodge burning rocks. Then splash through the chilling waters in an underground cavern. And if you're lucky, you can warp to the secret zone where you spin around in a floating maze! Your greatest challenge lurks in a secret lab where you come face to face with Dr. Robotnik himself! Spin through space, loop 'til you're dizzy, save the animals and become the super hero. Be Sonic! Be atomic!

VERSION INFO

The Japanese version of Sonic the Hedgehog differed in a few small factors to the European and American releases. Thanks to the extra few weeks the Japanese version had, graphical tweaks such as scrolling clouds in Green Hill Zone and ripple effects in Labyrinth Zone were apparent. Manuals for the land of the rising sun were also much more intricate than the Western counterpart; in fact, much of the storyline differed in many ways to the Western SEGA background of Sonic, the Chaos Emeralds and Dr. Eggman. Old-school fans still have a difficult time identifying which of the two stories was the "right" one, but in truth, both were official for each territory. Confusion soon subsided (and some more questions were even raised) when Sonic Team created a go-between, "international" background to suit both sides of the world.
Sonic the Hedgehog was an arcade game. The two SEGA arcade boards were Mega-Tech (which involved both Master System and Mega Drive hardware), and Mega Play (JAMMA board, Mega Drive only), and a modified version of the first two Sonic games were ported to these machines. It was a highscore based affair, where players attempted to complete the zones in a strict time limit - Green Hill Zone Act 1 gave you just 50 seconds to whizz through the stage. The only zones on offer in this game was Green Hill Zone, Spring Yard Zone, Star Light Zone, the first two Acts of Scrap Brain Zone and Final Zone.

MISCELLANEOUS

The composer for the music in Sonic the Hedgehog was a dude named Masato Nakamura. Nakamura was a member of up-and-coming J-Pop band, Dreams Come True. SEGA enlisted the help of Nakamura for some added Japanese attention to the game; as well as the credit, Sonic banners were placed on stages during Dreams Come True's 1990/1991 tour, increasing awareness of the blue spikeball. On top of this, one of the band's songs, "Kusuriyubi no Kesshin", can be heard in Star Light Zone. Since Sonic the Hedgehog, DCT's popularity soared, which would spell copyright and royalty issues in years to come.
The boulder ball that ended up being attached to Dr. Robotnik's machine at the end of Green Hill Zone originally had another purpose. Sonic Team had planned to include an Indiana Jones-esque chase scene of Sonic running away from the boulder. It was a canned idea that was later realised in Sonic Adventure.

In Western manuals, during the Special Stage descriptions, you can see a 1-Up item block. This never appeared in any final Special Stages, although using the Debug Mode (see the Cheats section) you can find unfinished test sections of the levels including various other strange blocks not even mentioned in the manuals.

GOOF-UP'S/CONTINUITY ERRORS/WEIRD THINGS

In the ending (It doesn't matter whether it's the bad or the good ending), the sunflowers in the green hill zone that Sonic is running through before the credits and cast show have pink centers. They're supposed to have green centers like in the final version of the Green hill zone. Put this down to perhaps a prototype aspect of the green hill zone lingering in the final version and not being removed (The prototype green hill zone has sunflowers in it that had pink centers).

CREDITS

Game Planner: Hirokazu Yasuhara
Sound Producer: Masato Nakamura
Programmer: Yuji Naka
Sound Programmer: "Jimita", "Macky"
Design: "Jinya", Reiko Kodama
Character Design: Naoto Ohshima

I loved this game, I keep playing it when bored, But is there Super Sonic in the game?

Dunno XD i assume there is though

no, there is no Super Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog. I believe he was introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Anywho.... the only reason I got into Sonic was that he was made the same year I was!

There is also hyper Sonic when Sonic gets the super emeralds..

oh abbey another move becuse this is for updates not for history

Actually, he was introduced in the 2nd game, Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

EDIT: BTW, the moved it in the wrong place. I don't see anything to do with a Fancharacter here XD.

>>Moved again.

Yeee i didn;t post this here. I was playing around with the forums. thats why. so there

hey im just trying to do my part

You are i'm talking to SSS1 not you. sorry

Stop arguing you two...... jeez.... its like watching a bunch of kids fight....

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee this ain't aguring.

Thats the spirites '
Well lets get to topic please!
So, I think in the Scarp brain zone , there isn't boss, but a third act there is right?

agreed

cool